There are no German Bears
by Satiah
Summary: It sounded so simple: he would leave with Feliks and make it to Feliciano's by lunch. But Feliks chose his own route, and now they're both lost. Toris has to wonder, if there aren't any German bears, why is one staring him in the face?
1. Chapter 1

Axis Powers Hetalia © Hidekazu Himaruya

... ... ... ... ...

"Just give up already, Feliks."

"Like, no way! Not yet!"

"We're lost," he said, pleading voice weary.

"Nuh-uh. I totally know where we are." Feliks' green eyes were determined, focused, and narrowed against the sun as he surveyed the terrain ahead.

"No, you don't," Toris replied, dejectedly staring down at the useless, slightly crumpled hand-drawn map in his hand, wondering if by some miracle they could ever, _ever _find a way to use it now.

"Like, yes I do! Just trust me, Liet!" Feliks huffed at his friend while impatiently shaking several stray hairs out of his face. He critically selected his next handhold and continued climbing the rocky outcropping which obscured their current view from whatever lay beyond.

'_Just trust me,' huh? That's what got us into this mess in the first place,_ Toris thought somewhat bitterly, equally tired of walking and of being lost. As far as Toris was concerned, this supposedly simple trip had promoted itself to Category Four Disaster the moment he allowed Feliks to do things his way.

It was true that the map clutched uselessly in Toris' hand - Feliciano's map, as it were - was rough, but the Italian's supplemental verbal directions had given Toris confidence in his ability to safely navigate the scribbled lines without any trouble. Feliciano's ballpoint pen route had traced a mostly straight path from his own house to Poland's place, crossing through both Austria's and Czech Republic's backyards along the way. All Feliks and Toris had to do was reverse the order, and tah-da, they'd have made it to Feliciano's place before lunch. However, when Toris had shown Feliks the map, Feliks, in typical Feliks fashion, dismissed it with a swift wave of his hand and barely a glance, choosing instead to do things his own way.

"Like, I know where his house is, Liet," he had said with a wink. "I can get us there no problem-o."

And Toris, in typical Toris fashion, had believed him.

They had set off early, in an attempt to avoid the heat of the day. Feliks had been excited, babbling on about how many times he had travelled this path of his, and how much fun it was going to be to have Liet along for the trip this time. As Feliks explained it, the two friends would be traveling through a "totally huge and like, _so_ beautiful" wetland which stretched from his property to Ludwig's. From there, they would stop by the German's house for lunch and set off again, keeping low as they passed through Vash's beautiful gardens (so as to not be seen or, worse, shot at) and then presto! They'd both appear in Feliciano's neighborhood, just a few blocks away from his house.

It sounded simple, but Toris had been wary of Feliks' decision since it meant the two travelers would be finding their way without some sort of charted visual guide. He had quietly watched Feliks pack a few snacks and some water for their trip, but no map, compass, or GPS system of any kind had entered his glittering pink backpack. Also, when Toris had glanced at a regular map, Feliks' way seemed quite a bit longer than Feliciano's. But, when Toris asked, Feliks had simply replied with: "Look at it this way, Liet. Your way goes through, like, _two_ _whole_ _countries_. That's a long way. _My_ way only goes through _two_ countries! It's shorter, see?" And while Toris had continued to stare at the map for several minutes afterward, trying vainly to make sense of Feliks' logic, in the end, no, he hadn't seen. But if Feliks knew what Feliks was doing, then Toris decided he would go along with it.

The two travelers had wandered through the forest for a good part of the morning before Toris managed to muster the courage to ask his friend where they were. "Oh this?" Feliks had replied. "This is just a reserve, you know? _Park Krajobrazowy Dolina Dolnej Odry _(1). Isn't it pretty?"

Toris had mutely nodded his head in agreement before realizing what he was doing. "Wait. What? You're taking me through a nature reserve?"

"Yeah. So?"

"A nature reserve that crosses borders?" Toris started to panic. He had been careful to make sure both he and Feliks had their passports ready on the table before they left the house, just in case, but he suddenly wasn't incredibly certain the documents had made their way into the miniature backpack currently hanging off of Feliks' left shoulder. In fact, Toris was almost positive he could still see them sitting on the table...

"Like, Ludwig won't mind. And besides, he's never caught me sneaking in this way," Feliks replied, sending Toris a mischievous grin from over his shoulder.

Toris sighed, resigned to the loss of the passports and the possibility of being caught and imprisoned by their uptight German friend. Toris tried to not let his imagination run itself too far, and instead focused on his awkward attempts to climb over the rotting remains of a fallen tree. He carefully kept his eyes steady on the root-gnarled ground so he wouldn't trip and end up falling on his face. Somehow, this whole scenario was turning out to be the typical result of spending a day with Feliks.

"Like, Liet?"

Toris looked up to see Feliks watching him with a serious look in his normally cheery green eyes. The playful, mischievous glimmers had gone, suddenly replaced with a soul-searching look of concern and maybe just a little pain.

"Don't you trust me, Liet?" he asked, whispering, his hurt voice somehow seeming to silence the normally ceaseless noises of the forest surrounding Toris. For several heartbeats, all Toris could do was return his best friend's stare, surprised and wounded himself that Feliks had felt the need to ask.

"Of course I do," he finally replied. And that had been the end of Toris' protests.

However, with the sun now beginning to creep toward its resting horizon, Toris began to sense something was amiss. Earlier, Feliks' steps had been sure, his face bright, and his manner confident. Now, his footfalls were less energetic and he had developed a habit of squinting around at the terrain every ten minutes, as if he wasn't quite sure he recognized the place.

_Great_, Toris thought. _He's finally gotten us lost._ But whenever Toris tried to broach the subject, Feliks would immediately answer with a grin, looking just as self-confident as ever, swearing he knew _exactly_ where he was.

"Like, Liet?" Feliks asked after another quarter-hour of silence. "I'm kinda tired."

"I'm tired, too," Toris replied.

"I think we should totally take a break."

"Yeah," Toris agreed. Sitting down against the base of a small tree, he arched his back and stretched his arms out above his head, clasping them together as he did so. Beneath him, the slightly damp ground was strewn with rough debris, but he knew it would be even rougher for Feliks, since Feliks didn't have the sense to wear long pants when hiking. So, with a sigh, Toris removed his windbreaker and spread it out on a relatively stable-looking patch of ground, inviting his friend to sit. Feliks happily plopped down on it with a quick thanks, and proceeded to complain to Toris about how bumpy, uncomfortable, and hard the ground was, anyway.

The two companions relaxed as they rested their feet, listening to the soothing noises of the area surrounding them. The birds were chirping merrily, the wind was whispering softly into their ears, and a little brook somewhere nearby was babbling contentedly to itself. Comfortable and warm as he relaxed in the heat of a few stray rays of sunshine, Toris could feel himself begin to drift off into sleep, content with the background chatter of the wetlands around him.

Feliks, however, wasn't quite _that_ comfortable. As he absently drew little doodles in the soft earth with a broken twig, a sudden loud sound of snapping branches made Feliks turn quickly toward Toris' dozing form, but it didn't appear as if Toris had been the one making the noise. At the same time, Feliks also noticed the chirping birds had stopped singing their songs to each other. The area had suddenly become very quiet, and a powerful, unpleasant odor had drifted its way into their campsite's airspace. A good whiff told Feliks all he needed to know.

"BEAR!" Feliks shouted, startling Toris, who sleepily looked at his companion in confusion. "No, Liet! Like, look that way! _That_ _way!" _Feliks commanded, stabbing his finger urgently at a large, shadowy form casually ambling its way towards them. "It's seriously a _bear!"_

Thoroughly awake, Toris hastily jumped to his feet. He had never seen a bear before, and didn't know how to react to one. Was he supposed to take Feliks and run? Should they climb up a tree? Did they try to scare it off somehow? But the creature looked so big...and they'd left home without a weapon...

Feliks solved the dilemma for him by reaching down and ripping Toris' jacket up from the ground. He shook it out violently in front of him and yelled as loudly as he could, despite the slight warble of fear in his voice: "Hey, you, Bear! Like, go away!" Unfortunately, while Feliks was busy jerking the jacket around in front of him, it decided to tangle upon itself, and ended up slapping against Feliks' forearms instead of blooming outward as it was supposed to. Thus, instead of making Feliks look bigger, it made him look more ridiculous, shouting at a bear and hitting his arms with a swinging piece of tangled cloth, but that was the least of their worries. Rather than frightening the bear off, Feliks had successfully managed to gain its attention, and apparently, also rouse its curiosity.

Toris suddenly decided this was one of those times where Feliks didn't know what Feliks was doing. Taking matters into his own hands, Toris grabbed his friend by the upper arm and began forcefully dragging him backward, determinedly heading toward a sharp bend in the path. Yanking Feliks around the bend, bringing the two out of the bear's immediate line of sight, Toris begged Feliks as loudly as his frightened voice would allow. "We have to do something, Feliks! Please, anything...anything!"

Feliks grabbed Toris' face with both hands, locking their gazes together. "Like, Liet," he said, voice calm and steady now, despite being somewhat of a higher pitch than normal, "We're not going to die, okay? We'll get through this."

Toris wasn't so sure, but nodded anyway.

"Like, good. Now, on the count of three, we totally run like hell."

Toris nodded. He wasn't sure about being able to outrun something as large as a bear, but maybe its immense bulk would slow it down...he took a deep breath and attempted to calm himself as Feliks counted down.

"Three..."

A rustle in the tall grass from the bear's direction made both friends stiffen in fear. They could hear a loud sniffing noise from around the bend, and could almost see the tip of the bear's black, snuffling snout peeking out, searching.

"Two..."

A large paw lazily scratched at the ground, attempting to dig up a half-buried piece of trash that had apparently been left there weeks ago.

"One...," Feliks held his breath, trying not to scream out and startle the bear into looking in their direction. So far, so good. "_Now!_" Feliks whispered hoarsely, pushing his friend into a run with as much strength as he could. Toris awkwardly stumbled out of his hiding place, recovered, and ran, immediately drawing the bear's attention. It's large, shaggy head rose, sniffed twice, and then lowered briefly as the bear considered Toris' fleeing form.

Then it charged.

The bear shot off after Toris with a speed Feliks couldn't believe. _No way something that big is totally that fast!_ he thought, now very frightened for Toris. But there was nothing more he could do for his friend...by now both Toris and the bear were out of his sight, and Feliks just wasn't a fit enough runner to catch up. Not that he really wanted to chase down a bear...but, oh, _Toris_...

... ... ... ... ...

(1): Translation from Polish (or so the Internet says): "Lower Odra Valley Landscape Park". It's German name translates to the "Lower Oder Valley National Park", but the different names just correspond to two separate halves of the same thing. Anyway, it's a shared German-Polish nature reserve that borders the Odra/Oder river.

A/N: I have to send out my thanks to Chiisaioni for correcting me about the nature of the reserve. Apparently, my geography somewhat fictitious; the real thing is much soggier (moors and wetlands) and devoid of trees. Chiisaioni also mentioned that it is known for having "white-tailed eagles, ospreys, least weasels, European badgers, and raccoon dogs." So there you go. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Axis Powers Hetalia © Hidekazu Himaruya

... ... ... ... ...

Toris ran. Using fear to fuel his pounding feet, he ran forward and kept on running. Stumbling and slipping on the uneven ground, he fought desperately to maintain his balance, growing more and more acutely aware of the bear closing the distance between them. _It's faster than I am!_ Toris panicked, but saw no other choice of action. _It's going to catch me and eat me and I'm going to die. I'm really going to die! _As his eyes filled with tears from his terror, the stinging wind, and the pain of so many sharp grasses lashing against his body, he blearily saw a rise of rocks that looked as if they could offer him some protection. Veering towards them, he noticed a slender crevasse in which, if he were lucky, he could just manage to squeeze into. And if he weren't lucky...then he'd be done for.

Much to Toris' horror, the nook was narrower than he had anticipated. But, looking fearfully over his shoulder at the charging, muscular bulk of the bear, he saw there wasn't much choice. It was do or die. Determined, Toris stood sideways and forced his shoulder into the crack, inhaling sharply as he rammed it against a jagged piece of rock. Gritting his teeth, Toris continued to force his way into the crack, holding his breath and pushing, pushing, _pushing! _until he just managed to squeeze his way in. Much to his relief, the narrow fissure mercifully widened into a larger hollow just past the initial squeeze, allowing Toris to draw himself into a shivering, frightened ball towards the back of his newfound sanctuary.

The bear arrived seconds later. Snarling, growling, and irritated, it roughly poked its snout into the crevasse, searching, probing, hungry and hunting. Toris shivered and held himself as far away as he could, terrified of the beast now scratching at the entrance with its mighty claws. The bear could reach in, but its powerful forearm was held at bay by the vigilant guardian rocks standing protectively between Toris and his would-be attacker.

Snarling, the bear lowered its mighty head, staring Toris down with intense, angry brown eyes. Its eyes glowed with a fierce intelligence and seemed for a moment to be almost human...but when Toris blinked, the bear turned away from its attempted task of extracting him from the crevasse and sniffed loudly in another direction. Sensing something, the bear pulled its powerful forepaw back from the rock's fissure and plodded off deeper into the maze of tall grasses, never once looking back to the place where it had left a terrified human shivering in the dark.

Toris remained in his hiding place for an hour after the ordeal. His shivers had since stopped and his tears had dried, but he was beginning to hurt very badly from sitting immobile in his cramped position for so long. He hadn't dared surface before then, though; he was too scared to move, afraid he wouldn't be able to get back into this safe zone if he ever crawled out of it. Eventually, when he did try, he discovered it was a fairly difficult task to remove his tired body from the unyielding clutches of his stone fortress. Toris managed to make it out after some considerable effort, but his escape left him bruised, bleeding, and hungry. Feliks had taken the backpack with the food and water, not to mention Toris' windbreaker.

Toris shivered in the cool evening air, holding himself tightly as he stared into the darkening night sky. Feeling lonely, he thought he wanted to get a better view of the stars - his stoic, nightly friends from those days so long ago, when he and Feliks would stare up from fields of glistening golden grain...

Sighing, Toris unhappily decided that he should first find himself a safer area in which to rest before the darkness appeared in earnest. Looking around at his options in the failing light, Toris finally settled on painfully climbing the rock formation that had so recently become his newest Best Friend. Stretching out on its ragged top, he could watch the moon rise, grinning brightly as it chased the few stars that were visible this early in the evening. Cold, exhausted, and completely alone, Toris hugged himself tighter and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

He was awakened by a gentle shake to find an intense light burning in his face. It was hot - flickering and painfully bright - and it took him a moment to realize he was face-to-face with a burning torch. Turning his head quickly to look around, Toris was startled to discover a face materialize in front of his own. Their noses bumped. The fire flickered. Red eyes reflected twin eerie glows. Toris screamed and scrambled back, clawing at the rock beneath him, trying to get away get away _get away!_

He was stopped mid-clutch as the hand behind him slipped off a smaller rock's lower edge, throwing the rest of his body momentarily off-balance. He spilled painfully across the jagged outcropping, landing hard on his back. Upon impact, Toris shut his eyes and defensively drew his knees to his chest, terrified of what was about to happen. Heart racing, head pounding, he waited for whoever it was to catch him, waited to be hit or hurt or arrested for trespassing without a license or a passport, waited to be...?

Waited for..._what, _exactly_?_

Uncertainly, Toris cracked one watery eye open but found it hard to see much of anything through the shadows dancing around the meager torchlight. Uncurling himself so he could sit up properly, he squinted his eyes, attempting to peer through the gloom to see who or what had brought the torch, and maybe even determine whether or not that person was friendly.

He once again came face-to-face with those ghostly, fire-lit eyes, narrowed in suspicion as they regarded him through the silence. Except this time, it wasn't Toris' fault he was so close to their owner's face, because he wasn't the one who had moved. Even so, those twin ruby orbs gleamed brightly back at Toris with an eerily reflected shine, piercing him with a gaze of pure malice -

_...Mirth_? Was that mirth?

Blinking rapidly and leaning back allowed Toris his first opportunity to capture a focused picture of his mysterious visitor. Unruly tufts of snowy-white hair littered with grass and twigs and leaves messily framed an impishly grinning, self-important face that he knew so well, while two red eyes continued to glitter with unspilled laughter. An added beady stare from a fluffy yellow bird sitting atop the man's head only added to the embarrassment Toris felt rising hotly in his cheeks.

"Gilbert," he managed to squeak. "Wh-what are you doing out here?" He finished lamely, feeling awkward and not really sure of what else to say. Thoroughly self-conscious, Toris tried to avert his eyes and find something interesting to consider among the many little pebbles littering the space around him. Given the darkness and the wavering torchlight, there wasn't much for him to find.

Gilbert silently regarded Toris with amusement. Saying nothing, he grabbed Toris' arm and pulled him closer to the place where the little torch stood, propped more or less upright between a few loose stones. It was difficult to see how badly Toris was injured in its paltry light, but Gilbert didn't need to find everything; he just wanted to fix the most painful problems now and leave the rest for the morning.

With a sharp tug, Gilbert managed to remove Toris' battered and torn shirt. With an 'ack!' of surprise and a shiver from the cold, Toris objected, but a confident finger held in the air silenced any further protests. "Hey now," Gilbert said, watching Toris from the corner of his eye. "I'm too awesome to _not_ help. I'm not gonna hurt you."

Toris looked at him suspiciously, seeing no reason to trust Gilbert.

"That would just be bullying," Gilbert explained, letting his self-confident demeanor do the rest of the talking for him.

Toris blinked, but remembered the Prussian had always been a bit...different. So he sighed and allowed Gilbert to examine him for injuries. The worst was the angry bruise blooming on Toris' shoulder from where he had rammed it into a rock while trying to escape the bear, but there was little Gilbert could do for that at the moment. He fixed what he could, adding bandages and antiseptic ointment from a travel-sized first-aid kit by his side. Working silently, he quickly finished bandaging Toris' wounds and sat back to appraise his work. Satisfied, he gave a quick nod and reached into his backpack for some water. Toris drank it readily.

"What are _you_ doing out here?" Gilbert asked as Toris put his shirt back on and proceed to down another bottle of water.

"Getting lost," was the abrupt reply.

Gilbert considered the response for a brief moment before he erupted into great peals of laughter, his cackles sharp and full. The sound resounded through the area, echoing back towards Toris, who felt another embarrassed blush begin to stain his cheeks. "I had kinda...already guessed..._that_," Gilbert managed between hastily drawn breaths, wiping his watering eyes with the back of his hand. "How'd you _get _lost?"

Toris sighed, not really wanting to answer, but equally sure he wouldn't be able to evade the question for long. He looked at Gilbert for a quiet moment, considering, silently weighing in his mind how much of the story he wanted to divulge. Toris finally decided it would probably be best if he were honest. So, after taking a deep breath, he started from the beginning, deciding only to leave out the part about not having his brought his passport.


	3. Chapter 3

Axis Powers Hetalia © Hidekazu Himaruya

... ... ... ... ...

Toris groggily awoke with the early morning sun shining upon his dreadfully aching body. As he became more conscious of his surroundings, he noticed the gentle way the leaves glimmered as they frolicked in the sun's sparkling caress, how delightedly their shadows skipped over him with the slightest of breezes, and how intensely two sets of eyes were staring at him from a mere few feet away. Suddenly wide awake, Toris sat up, looking from the bird to Gilbert, trying to ascertain _why_ they had watched him sleep, and for how long. He was opening his mouth to ask when Gilbert cracked a smile. An impish smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Good morn~ing," he said with a peculiar sing-song tone to his voice.

"Good...ah, morning?" Toris replied, cautiously watching the strange little bird perched atop Gilbert's head because it was still staring at him.

"Now that you're up, we can start heading off!" Gilbert continued, oblivious of Toris' partial inattention to his statement.

"Where to?" Toris half-heard himself ask.

Gilbert sent over a quizzical stare. "To my house. Where else?"

That got Toris' undivided attention. He could almost cry with relief. "Is it close?" he asked, trying not to sound too overly hopeful, but mentally crossing his fingers just in case a little bit of luck could help bring about the answer he so desperately wanted to hear.

"Well, this _would_ be my backyard," Gilbert replied. "Awesome, isn't it?"

"Your what?"

"Back. Yard. _Backyard_."

"Oh. I see," Toris meekly replied. Then: "You know you have a...grumpy brown bear running around your...er...backyard, right?"

Gilbert scoffed. "No way. Bears don't live in Germany."

"Then what chased me yesterday?"

"I don't know. Something not-very-awesome which wandered in from Feliks' side, if anything."

Toris sighed, exasperated. Gilbert was obviously going to be less than helpful this morning, but he couldn't give up. He decided to try convincing Gilbert again, this time from a slightly different angle. "But you believed my story, right? I told you I ran away from - "

"You were tired, alone, and frightened," Gilbert cut in. "You were also dehydrated and hungry. You could have hallucinated _anything_."

Toris bristled, offended by Gilbert's clear lack of belief that his words were true. "But it was there! Feliks saw it, too!"

"And where is Feliks now?" Gilbert countered, silencing Toris. After a moment, Gilbert impatiently sighed, rose to his feet, and looked down at Toris' bowed head. "Get up. We're going." When he received no response, he sighed again and shifted his weight, this time glaring down at Toris. "Look, I don't know what happened, but we need to get you cleaned up," he said, miffed.

Toris had no choice but to follow if he ever wanted to escape from this wretched place, so he slowly rose to his feet, the state of his heart now mirroring that of his wounded body.

They had traveled in silence for half an hour before Gilbert abruptly stopped and turned around. "You stink," he said, voice level and matter-of-fact as he peered into his companion's startled eyes.

Toris looked back at him, blue eyes incredulous. "Excuse me?"

"I _said_ you sti-"

At that moment, a loud, low growling sound cut through Gilbert's accusations, abruptly changing the target of Gilbert's complaints from Toris to something else. As Gilbert turned to look in the direction of the noise _and_ the offending odor, his self-confident posture momentarily froze, leaving him with a poised finger in the air and dead words upon his tongue. "B-bear," he finally choked out, not entirely sure how he could be facing such a creature. Bears didn't live in Germany! But there one was, staring, it's liquid brown gaze searing through Gilbert's, his body frozen as if pierced through and held immobile by an arrow of terror...

Toris, despite being terrified once more, was quickly becoming angry. His fear fueled his sudden fury, and he smoldered inside. It obviously _hadn't been enough_ that the bear had ruined his trip with Feliks, or chased him through the woods to hide in _a_ _hole in a rock_, or became a source for Gilbert to question his sanity..._no_...none of that was enough. _Now_ the giant problem had to show up again! To do what? Chase them through some swamps because it was so much fun the first time?

Deciding that doing _something_ was better than doing nothing, Toris slowly reached for a stone near his foot, careful to avoid making any sudden movements. The bear snorted once, its large, wet nostrils spraying a fine, snotty mist into a stray sunlit beam...but it's muscular bulk didn't move forward. Good. Toris blindly grasped for the heavy burden with both hands, fumbling along the ground before he found it. Grabbing hold, he slowly rose back to his feet. Heart pounding with fear, head buzzing with anger, and mouth suddenly incredibly dry, he raised the stone above his head. The bear still didn't move. Ever gently, Toris found his footing...took a deep, shuddering breath...

Held it...

_Held it..._

And flung the rock as far from him as he could, watching as the bear's mighty head swung to keep track of the flying object. It smashed heavily into a tree somewhere off to the bear's left, and the bear's large body turned to investigate. But Toris was no longer watching. He quickly grabbed hold of Gilbert's wrist and _took off_, bolting through dried mud and sticks as fast as he could get Gilbert's shock-stumbling legs to go. Together, he and Gilbert raced, breathing in deep gasps and stumbling on rocks and roots, but onward they pushed. Heedless of direction, it was impossible to tell where they had run off to, but they only stopped their frightened flight when their exhausted bodies could run no more.

Gilbert stumbled; Toris collapsed. Both lay upon the cold, damp earth, begging their lungs to take in more air, straining to breathe. But there was no sound behind them; they had escaped.

Chuckling, Gilbert reached over to punch at Toris' good shoulder. "Guess you...were...right," he said, trying to speak between breaths.

Toris just looked at him, saying nothing, but grateful that Gilbert no longer thought he was crazy.

"I...didn't think there...were any bears...in Germany," Gilbert continued. "West's...too strict...scared 'em all away."

Toris' chapped lips twitched into a smile at the joke. Trying his best not to laugh, he pressed the knuckles of his free hand against his mouth, but it was too late for him to hold back. He chuckled softly as relief coursed through his tired body. Soon, he and Gilbert were laughing together, splayed side-by-side on their backs with arms looped in a comforting gesture, each reminding the other that they were not alone in this journey.

The two friends patiently amused themselves as they watched the sun's rays filter flickeringly down through patches of fluffy clouds. The warming light created dancing shadows upon their bodies, and they tried hard to see shapes in the random patterns. After their game had ended, Toris rolled over to look at his unlikely camping companion. Both Gilbert and his little yellow bird stared back.

"You know...you keep a very beautiful yard."

"It's not actually mine," Gilbert confessed while momentarily averting his eyes. "It's West's."

"Close enough."

"I'm too awesome to let it go to waste while he sits inside all day doing nothing but paperwork, though."

Toris smiled. "Might I suggest you find better friends to fill the backyard with? Friends that are smaller and more harmless, perhaps?"

Playing along, Gilbert pretended to seriously consider the thought for a moment before replying. "I suppose...," he answered slowly in a deepened, mock-Ludwig voice. "Maybe the bear _was_ overdoing it."

"Maybe," Toris laughed. He was about to reply, but ended up making a startled, choked noise instead.

"What's the matter with you?" Gilbert asked, sitting up in concern, but figured the situation out for himself as soon as the words left his mouth. _The bear._ Somehow, it had chased them down. It had followed their scent and they had quit moving...stopped running away...it would have been all too easy for the bear to find them.

As it was, the bear was angrily snorting its displeasure at the two humans, growling low in its throat as it slowly approached. It shouldered itself easily through thick weeds, stiff grasses and raised roots giving way to its passage as fluidly as water sliced by a great ship's passing bow. Once the bear had cleared the last of the foliage standing meekly between itself and the two frightened people, the bear opened its large maw wide, saliva stringing, and let loose a loud, rumbling roar.

Then it charged.

Immediately, a blaringly shrill, ear-splitting scream erupted through the area as the snarling bear bounded towards Gilbert and Toris. Turning his back on snarling, onrushing death, Toris whipped around to instead stare at Gilbert, not knowing such an awful noise could issue from a human throat. But it wasn't Gilbert screeching - it was the little fluffy bird flapping frantically atop Gilbert's head. Gilbert, meanwhile, was busy making a pained face as he tried to cover his awesome ears to keep them from bleeding themselves out in sheer agony. Toris quickly did the same.

The bear, however, was having a harder time escaping from the wraith-like shriek. The bear stopped its deadly sprint and instead batted heavy paws over its sensitive ears, growling and groaning. It shook its head on the ground and pawed restlessly, but it couldn't rid itself of the ear-piercing noise. Shuddering, the bear turned and retreated the same way it had come, loping along quickly, trying its best to escape.

The bird continued its shrill cry.

"How do you make it stop?" Toris shouted, looking at the little bird in disbelief.

"Dunno," Gilbert shouted back. "He's never done this before!"

"Try something!"

Gilbert hesitated, then uncovered his ears. He quickly snatched the bird from his grass-riddled hair and held it close to his chest, trying to cover it in his hands in an attempt to mute the noise. Fortunately, the little bird sat quietly, finally ceasing its horrible cries once it was clamped safely between its master's shaking hands.

"What in the world...?" Toris began, but couldn't finish. His ringing head told him he wouldn't have been able to hear a reply even if Gilbert had managed to come up with one. Shrugging, he instead settled for plopping himself down next to Gilbert. He leaned forward, elbows settled upon crossed legs, and closed his eyes, waiting patiently for his heart to quit racing and his head to cease throbbing.

After their rest, the two weary travelers reached the edge of the forest, blanketed in a thick, orange glow of the late afternoon sun. The journey through Gilbert's (Ludwig's) backyard ended two days after Toris had initially left Feliks' house, and a day after Toris met up with Gilbert and his awesome little bird. The rest of the journey had been remarkably uneventful; thanks to the shrieking peep, the bear had most certainly decided to keep its distance. Where it was now, Toris could only guess. Nothing else in the forest bothered them, as most of the birds they came across minded their own business.

"Here we are," Gilbert proudly announced, standing with hands on hips and red eyes calculatingly surveying the last remaining stretch of tender earth between him and the house. Noting with satisfaction that West's dogs were locked up in their own area of the yard, (Gilbert didn't like to mess with them when West wasn't around - they tried to jump up and eat his awesome little bird) Gilbert hooked his arm around Toris' and pulled him towards the house.

Ludwig wasn't home, so Gilbert popped open the fridge and rummaged around for some leftover food. Predictably pulling out some grilled bratwurst and beer, he turned towards Toris with a beaming smile. "German food is the best," he said, plopping the wurst on a plate. He sat back in a kitchen chair with a contented sigh and popped open the top of his beer, closing his eyes to savor his initial sip. When he didn't hear Toris opening his own drink, Gilbert sighed and cracked one ruby-colored eye at him. "What?" he asked.

Toris blushed, embarrassed again. "I...uh...," he began.

"Not of age? Don't like it?" Gilbert interrupted. "Whatever. There's soda, no big deal."

Toris gratefully got up and exchanged his drink, watching Gilbert chew thoughtfully on one of the cold sausages. "If you don't mind, I'd like to clean up a little," Toris said, looking askance at the soiled state of his clothing, the mud smeared upon his hands, and the dirt embedded beneath his fingernails (a habit picked up from being Feliks' best friend - he _always_ inspected Toris' fingernails).

Gilbert pointed in the direction of a short hall. "Bathroom," he said while letting his awesome little bird drink some of his awesome German beer before he put it back on his awesome head.

Toris looked at the surprising yellow ball of fluff with a puzzled glance, not sure if it was healthy to give beer to a bird, but he didn't want to say anything and appear ungrateful for Gilbert's help. So, Toris left Gilbert at the table, chewing on a bratwurst and drinking beer with sticks and leaves and mud and a little bird still in his hair.

After enjoying his first warm shower in two fear-filled and _very_ _long_ days, Toris borrowed a change of clothes from Gilbert's closet. They were a little big but they were clean, and that was all Toris really cared about. After brushing the snarls out of his hair, Toris finally felt better than he had since he left Feliks' place, and decided with renewed determination that he was ready to complete the last part of his journey. He wandered back to the kitchen to where a refreshed and clean Gilbert awaited him, having already showered in the upstairs bathroom.

"So, what now?" Gilbert asked.

"I lost Feliks," Toris said. "I have to find him." After an awkward moment in which he tried to figure out how to express his gratitude in words that wouldn't sound too cheesy to the German, Toris looked Gilbert full in the face and said, as earnestly as he knew how, "Thanks for everything."

And for once Gilbert's cheeks were redder than Toris'.

... ... ... ... ...

A/N: As for the screaming bird...well...I thought it had a few hidden talents up its fluffy sleeves. Gilbert doesn't keep it around just for show, you know.

Oh, and bears really don't live in Germany (although a few dwindling groups do survive in the mountains of Austria, France, and Italy). But there are more than 120 bird species in the Lower Oder Valley National Park. So...Gilbert and Toris saw lots and lots of birds on their way out. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Axis Powers Hetalia © Hidekazu Himaruya

... ... ... ... ...

Toris shaded his eyes from the bright, orangey glare of the lowering sun as he quietly slipped out the German family's front door. After making sure the door didn't slam itself shut behind him, he quickly headed down the porch's three low steps and started down the walkway leading towards the main road. He had only made it to the edge of the drive when he heard a rather irritated voice call out loudly from behind him.

"Now what do you think you're doing?" Gilbert asked. "The park's the other way."

"I'm going to Feliciano's. Although I fear I may be a bit late."

"How late?"

"About three days, by time I actually get there."

Gilbert studied Toris' solitary figure at the end of the drive for a moment, thinking. Finally, he sighed. Then shrugged. "I'll go with you."

Surprised, Toris asked, "Why is that?"

"Because if I don't you might meet another bear."

"There are no bears in Germany," Toris teased.

"Then I'm coming because I'm just that awesome."

"Sure," Toris shrugged, waiting for Gilbert to catch up. "I won't mind the company."

The two traveled on in silence, contentedly listening to the gravelly crunch of the roadway beneath their feet as they steadily made their way towards Feliciano's house. The late evening air was fresh and crisp, with just enough of a breeze to keep the two companions comfortably cool as they walked along the roadway side-by-side. For most of the journey, Gilbert remained close enough to occasionally bump into Toris' arm if he didn't pay attention to where his feet were going.

After the third time Gilbert's elbow _did_ run into Toris, Toris asked, "Should I move over?"

Gilbert looked up with surprise. "Uh...no. I was just remembering the beer-houses on this part of the road, and if the patrons are driving themselves home..." He grinned to show he was joking, and sidestepped to allow Toris more space.

Toris watched Gilbert move in time to awkwardly twist past a light pole that was just beginning to flicker itself into luminescent existence for the evening. After narrowly dodging the metal pole, Gilbert tried to erase his blunder by showing off; he spun himself around into a much-elaborated pivoted twirl, long red scarf flying out around him, looking as confident as if the maneuver had been planned all along. He came to a stop facing Toris once more, grinning with his hands on his hips as he met the other's gaze.

Toris raised an eyebrow at his companion's antics. "Showoff."

Gilbert's brow furrowed. "I'm _awesome,_" he corrected.

"Trying to impress...?"

"Nobody," Gilbert sniffed. "I just felt like doing that."

"Sure," Toris replied, having a hard time hiding his smile any longer.

"You don't believe me?" Gilbert asked.

"There's a bunch of pretty girls right over there," he said, pointing to the giggling females. "If you didn't do it on purpose, you have great timing."

Gilbert looked over his shoulder and gave the women a smile. "Huh," he muttered. "Didn't even see 'em."

With that, both travelers lapsed into a comfortable silence, with Gilbert still occasionally bumping into Toris (but this time it was on purpose, and turned into a shoving match until they started noticing the oncoming traffic). The sky gradually darkened into painted shades of blue and purple as the sun began to set, and it was well into the evening before they reached the low wooden fence marking Vash's property. Illuminated by the moon's bright light and the silently twinkling stars, (as well as the aid of some additional light poles and floodlights) the outer gardens belonging to the Swiss household looked as if they were somehow magical. The fruit trees cast deep shadows that melted gently into the surrounding darkness with unbroken fluidity, providing Gilbert and Toris plenty of opportunity to hide as they crossed the otherwise flat terrain.

Unfortunately, having traveled in accordance with Feliks' plan (for Toris figured Feliks' would have had no reason to deviate from it), Gilbert and Toris were required to cross the heavily-guarded Swiss part of the world before they could safely enter Feliciano's neighborhood. This meant they had to sneak through Vash's gardens undetected.

Toris held his breath as he slid his slender form behind a large fruit tree, watching carefully as Gilbert's ruby eyes reflected a passing floodlight sweep. The intense security lights had recently been installed for the purpose of keeping a certain Italian from trampling through these very gardens in the middle of the night...much like they were now doing.

Daring to breathe again after the sweeping beam of the security light passed, Toris abandoned his hiding place and cautiously moved forward, dropping down low to tuck his semi-curled body beneath a nearby bush. He quietly waited for Gilbert to catch up with him. Together, the two trespassers sprinted forward when safe, paused when they had to, and aimed directly for the deepest shadows pooling softly along the side of Vash's richly-guarded house. Only when they had made it to the safety of said shadows did they dare relax. But only just a little.

They quietly inched their way along the sideboards beneath Vash's second-story porch and crept towards the opposite side of the house just as another powerful beam swept across the gardens, very clearly illuminating their previous hiding places. Sweating and nervous, Toris thought, not for the first time, that he'd rather die than have to follow through another of Feliks' stupid plans ever again. Oh, why didn't he just take the safer route through Roderich's neighborhood? At least the Austrian _stayed_ _inside _all day and slept at night like normal people did! Besides that, Roderich never carried anything more lethal than a conductor's baton with him!

But Roderich didn't like Gilbert much, so they had agreed to avoid him entirely. Great choice, Toris. _Real_ smart.

Being as cautious, quiet, and swift as possible helped Toris and Gilbert remain undetected as they tiptoed along the side of the house. Despite their hearts pounding at alarmingly fast rates, thumping much too loudly for Toris to feel comfortable in the silence they were trying to preserve, nothing major went wrong until Gilbert caught a particularly strong whiff of a nearby flowering bush and sneezed. Several times, quite loudly.

"Who's there?" The sharp question immediately sliced through the tense air.

Toris and Gilbert froze. Vash was nearby...they hadn't seen him, but the sound of his demanding voice was way too close for comfort. And they both knew he always carried a gun with him, fully prepared to shoot first and ask questions later if necessary (he'd probably deem their trespassing through his prized gardens as a "necessary" type of situation). With eyes wide, Toris searched desperately for either a hiding place or Vash's location...but could find neither.

Suddenly, another voice jolted its way through the heavy silence. "Ve!" it said.

Vash's voice came again, loud and almost snarling, "_Feliciano?_"

"Ve!"

There was a long, angry sigh. A slight pause. Then: "Dammit. It's _always_ you." Toris and Gilbert tensed as a shifting noise came from above their heads...they pressed further into the shadows as they heard the harsh sounds of a gun being cocked and made ready to fire...and when Toris shakily looked up, he could see the business end of a double-barreled shotgun attempting to take aim...

And then the loud _crack!_ of a bullet bit through the night.

Or perhaps it was three shots...Vash could squeeze off rounds faster than Toris cared to count. But Toris and Gilbert did not waste their time counting when they were so fortuitously presented with this opportunity to escape. They quickly slid out of sight, knowing Vash would be looking for Feliciano to cross his path on the way to Ludwig's, but luckily, Toris and Gilbert were running in the opposite direction, and had a much smaller chance of being spotted by the irritated sharpshooter.

Toris rolled to his hands and knees, gasping on the road just beyond Vash's property, feeling very much relieved that they had survived such a near encounter with the Swiss gun-maniac. Gilbert, on the other hand, was supporting himself against a tree, wheezing just as hard as Toris, but grinning widely as he did so.

"Guess we...saw..._another_ bear," he chuckled. "Just...our luck."

"No...," Toris replied. "The bear...in the woods...had a much better temper." They both laughed weakly at their shared joke.

"Ve!" added a third happy voice.

Toris' head shot up, looking desperately for the Italian who had saved their lives, relieved to discover that Feliciano hadn't been shot in the process. But no matter where Toris looked, he couldn't see Feliciano anywhere!

"Up here," Gilbert said, pointing to his head.

Toris looked up. The bird stared back at him with its little beady black eyes. "I...didn't know he could do that," Toris said.

"Neither did I," Gilbert shrugged. "But it's closer to a 'peep' sound than that wailing siren it blared at us back in the forest."

"I guess your bird's just...awesome, then?"

"Yeah," Gilbert grinned. "Awesome."

Having recovered, the two travelers picked themselves up and continued on their journey. Walking through the night, laughing underneath the sparkling stars, they made jokes about Swiss bears and birds that could be used in place of emergency sirens since they didn't require electricity to work. Toris and Gilbert arrived at Feliciano's house in the drizzly early morning hours of the following day. To their mutual surprise, Ludwig was there to greet them, wordlessly counting his push-ups outside on Feliciano's front porch.

"Uh...West?" Gilbert asked, temporarily halting his brother's exercise routine.

"Ah, so you made it!" Ludwig exclaimed, clapping a hand on both Gilbert's and Toris' shoulders. Looking at Toris, he said, "Feliks was worried about you."

"What? Feliks is here?"

"He's been here two days."

Toris groaned. Somehow, that was typical.

"Like, yeah, Liet," a cheery voice said from behind him. "I was, like, totally worried about you! But I see you made it okay."

"How'd you get here?" Toris asked, confused, but happy to know his friend had made it safely through the parkland.

"I, like, took that path we talked about. Y'know, the one where we hopped through Ludwig's backyard, had lunch with him, and then skipped across Vash's lawn without being shot at? That plan."

Toris frowned. "I thought we were utterly lost."

"No way!" Feliks looked surprised. "I wasn't lost at all! In fact, getting away from that awful bear totally put me right in _front_ of Ludwig's place. You, like, ran in the wrong direction, so I guess that means you were the one who was lost. Not me."

Toris sighed, and rubbed his tired face in a hand. Yes, this was typical of Feliks...and yet, he couldn't bring himself to stay mad at his best friend for long. Feliks would always be Feliks, he supposed.

"You're here!" Feliciano chirped happily as he came running down the steps to greet his two newest guests.

"Yeah," Gilbert answered, staring intensely at Feliciano until the Italian shook with fear and hid behind Ludwig, uttering little unhappy "Ve-Ve" noises along the way. Or, at least, continuing the unblinking stare was what Gilbert _tried_ to do before Ludwig bopped him upside his head and told him to quit scaring their generous Italian host.

Heartily, the friends laughed as they told various stories over breakfast, including Toris' recent misadventures (leaving out the passport business), ate as much good food as they possibly could, and enjoyed being in each other's company after so long a separation.

Although it saddened Toris to part ways with his friends at the end of the day, with Ludwig and Gilbert heading back to their house and Toris and Feliks heading back towards Feliks', Toris couldn't be entirely disappointed: they had all planned to meet up again for a picnic in the near future.

"You know what, Liet?" Feliks asked, his thoughtful voice cutting through Toris' daydreams of warm bread rolls and cold slices of watermelon.

"Um...what?"

"I think I know how we can get back home without, like, entertaining that dumb bear. It'll totally be no problem at all."

"Really?" Toris asked, skeptical.

"Yep! Just trust me!" And with that, Feliks turned and marched off towards Slovenia's house, careful to keep his pristine white-and-pink sneakers out of any muddy puddles left on the street's rain-slicked surface.

_Oh boy, _Toris thought with a slight roll of his eyes, but, trusting his best friend as always, he too turned toward the eastern horizon and began the long, long, _long_ trek home.


End file.
